


Escape from St. Jude's

by MoonbornChild



Category: Dangan Ronpa
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-17
Updated: 2014-06-07
Packaged: 2018-01-12 21:24:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1201213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonbornChild/pseuds/MoonbornChild
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Kaori was accepted to St. Jude's Academy for Gifted Girls, she expected the educational experience of a lifetime. And when Monokuma steps into the picture, she and fifteen other gifted girls get just that. Now they're fighting against Monokuma's motives and a threat of death that comes from within their own group to escape St. Jude's alive, and Kaori can't even remember the skill that got her into this situation in the first place.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Through Hallways Lit All Colors

     I woke up in a dark room lit by a single light bulb hanging overhead. Said light bulb was purple, which resulted in everything being tinted the same color. I was sitting at a school desk, my head leaning back in an awkward position. I stretched my back and heard it pop in several places before finally returning my attention to the room around me. Kaori Oshiro was written on the white board in dark gray. Kaori Oshiro…that’s my name. I’m fairly certain of that much. I was a pretty normal girl, I think. I had two little brothers, lived in a pretty average family though we had hit some rough times recently.

      I looked back to the board and noticed more writing below it, saying to head to the gym. It was coming back now, everything. The acceptance letter, the looks of shock on my family’s face, the surprise and fear rushing through my system. I had been accepted to the highly prestigious St. Jude’s Academy for Gifted Girls due to…what? I had been accepted because of some certain skill, that’s how this place picked their students. But I couldn’t remember what it was. I had arrived at the school, opened the front door and then- nothing. I must have fainted.

**Kaori Oshiro**

**Super High School Level ???**

     Deciding the best course of action would be to follow the instruction on the board I stood up from my seat and headed for the door. I closed a hand on the bronze knob and opened it to walk into an equally badly lit hallway, the changing colors of the light bulb causing different sections to be illuminated in a different color. I had no clue where I was going so I simply picked a hallway and walked.

      As I was walking I saw another girl walking towards me. She wore practical clothes and hiking boots, her brown hair held tight in a no-nonsense braid. She was looking around, clearly just as lost as I was. “Hello” I said, coming to a stop in front of her. “Are you a new student too?”

      She looked surprised for a minute, then nodded. “Yes, I am. My name is Rei Kawaguchi, survivalist.” 

**Rei Kawaguchi**

**Super High School Level Survivalist**

      I had looked up all my classmates on an online forum a few nights back, but I didn’t really need to do that for this one. When her whole family took a trip to Alaska Rei and her cousin got lost in the frozen wilderness. Rei managed to keep them alive for the three weeks until they were finally found and saved. It had been all over the news and nowadays her survivalist show, Amazon Girl, was extremely popular. No crew, no back up plan, Rei did it all herself.

     “I’m Kaori Oshiro, I don’t remember why I’m here.” I said.

      “Oh.” Rei seemed to consider that for a minute. “Okay” and we continued on in relative silence, neither of us with any clue as to where we were going.  

       “Excuse me, but you’re going the wrong way” a voice piped up a bit later. We turned to see a pair of girl walking towards us. The one who had spoken was shy looking girl in an apron and a pink dress.

        “Hey, the proper thing to do is say thank you and listen to the lady!” The other girl scolded. She wore a short blue dress and held a hot pink notebook in one hand. I realized that while Rei and I had stopped, neither of us had said anything.

       “Sorry” I said. “I’m not much of a talker.”

       “That’s fine!” The girl in the blue dress said. “But you need to learn how to talk to others, especially when such a pretty little thing comes along!” She pulled the girl in the apron in front of her. “Just look at this work of art!”

       The girl in the apron blushed bright red. “My name is Airi Honda, I’m a nanny.”

**Airi Honda**

**Super** **High School** **Level Nanny**

      I’d read about her too. She was the nanny of the children of a multi billionaire that had turned two spoiled brats into absolute angels in less than a month of service. Several very rich families had begged her to do the same in their own houses, but she was determined to stick with the first family until the children were in college.

       “I’m Kotone Himura” the girl in the blue dress said. “And I am _going_ to find this sweetheart a girlfriend if it’s the last thing I do!”

**Kotone Himura**

**Super** **High School** **Level Matchmaker**

      Kotone ran her own dating website, which was one of the most popular and successful ones in Japan. She also ran a blog she called the Love Blog, where she posted dating advice and her opinions on the romantic world. Her entry “Why ‘The Bachelor’ is the Worst Thing for Romance Since the Sandwich” appeared in numerous magazines and started a whole new brand of thinking among romantics.

     “I’m Rei Kawaguchi” Rei said. “Survivalist.”

      “I’m Kaoria Oshiro” I added. “I don’t remember why I’m here.”

       Kotone looked surprised. “Wow, seriously? How could you forget something like that?”

      I shrugged. “I dunno, I just…forgot.”

       Kotone looked annoyed, but she dropped it. “Whatever, we’ve got bigger problems. Have you noticed the windows?”

       I nodded, because they were impossible not to notice: giant sheets of metal, covering every window I’d seen thus far.

     “We should probably head for the gym” Airi said. “You two hadn’t shown up, so they sent us to look for you. They’ll get worried if we’re not back soon.”

     “Are you talking about the other students?” Rei asked. Airi nodded.

     “Yeah, we should probably get moving.” Kotone said. “Follow me.” So we did. She led us around the corner and down a couple more hallways before we eventually came to a stop in front of a pair of double doors. “Okay, we’re here!” Kotone said. “Ready to meet the rest of the ladies?” Without waiting for a response she opened the door and I found myself faced with the rest of my classmates.

      “Well look who finally decided to show up” a girl with red hair jeered, one elbow on the shoulder of the nigh identical girl next to her.

       “Can’t you do something as simple as find a pair of double doors in a one floor area?” The other redhead demanded, one hand on her hip.

      “Sorry” Rei said. “I didn’t know the area very well.”

       “It’s your own fault for not taking the tour, dumbass.” The second one said.

       “Who are you two?” I asked, interrupting before things could get worse.

      “I’m Hana, and this is my older sister Haruko.” The first speaker said. “We’re the Yamamoto sisters, creators of the Undead Scythe series.”

**Hana Yamamoto**

**Super** **High School** **Level Voice Actress**

**Haruko Yamamoto**

**Super** **High School** **Level Animator**

     The Yamamoto sisters had made a wildly popular online web series following the story of a newly selected grim reaper. Hana did every voice, male, female, young, and old while Haruko did every bit of the animation. An anime company had snatched up both sisters not long after the seventh episode was released. While they still continued their series they were now also involved in some pretty high profile projects.

       “I’m Kaori Oshiro.” I said. “I don’t remember why I’m here.”

       They were silent for a minute before Haruko held out an arm to her sister. “Hana, pinch me.” The other girl did so. Haruko nodded and moved her arm away. “I guess this isn’t a dream. But I suppose it makes sense, not even in my wildest dreams would I imagine having a classmate _that_ incompetent.”

     I didn’t even bother to respond to that. I noticed everyone looking at me and figure everyone must have been listening to our conversation.

      The first to speak was a tall, athletic looking girl. “Well that’s three of our introductions. Let’s go in a circle and introduce ourselves to the group one by one.” With a few grumbles the idea was accepted. The girl herded everyone into a circle before speaking again. “My name is Atsuko Maki, I’m a tennis player.”

**Atsuko Maki**

**Super** **High School** **Level Tennis Player**

     Despite her young age Atsuko had played at both a national and international level in the sport of tennis and was considered to be one of the best in the world. She had been selected to participate in the Olympics next summer.

      “My turn!” The golden haired girl next to her said. “I’m Hikari Inoue, I’m a pilot!”

**Hikari Inoue**

**Super** **High School** **Level Pilot**

      Not only was Hikari one of the youngest people in history with a flight license, she was _really_ good at what she did. She could pull off all sorts of stunts in a plane and was often hired by high up politicians and business men to fly them cross country or overseas in private jets.

      “My name is Michi Akiyama” the next girl said, sounding bored. “I run a Radio Show.”

**Michi Akiyama**

**Super** **High School** **Level Radio Show Host**

      Michi’s radio show talked about anything and everything and had one of the biggest followings in Japan. It was rumored she ran a Suicide Hotline on the side but no one was certain. Either way, for someone who sounded so cheerful on her show she seemed awfully flat faced at the moment.

     A girl with tattoos all down her arms had to clear her throat quite loudly before the next girl looked up from her massive book. She looked startled “oh, sorry. I’m Monami Tachibana, I’m a historian.”

**Monami Tachibana**

**Super** **High School** **Level Historian**

      She’d written several award winning history books and had uncovered several secrets of the past that had left history professors around the world gaping in shock. Rumor was she could list the name of every Chinese Emperor as far back as the records went.

       The next girl, a bottle blonde, crossed her arms and glared at us all. “I’m Sachiko Watanabe. I won a lottery.”

**Sachiko Watanabe**

**Super** **High School** **Level Good Luck**

      There really wasn’t much to say about her: in a lottery that contained every eligible female high school student in Japan, she had been the winner.

      The next girl, who was in a leotard and a top hat, threw back her cape and declared “I am Blaze, a mage from the realm of the Fae!”

**Blaze**

**Super** **High School** **Level Magician**

      Considered one of the best magicians in ages, she had her own show in Las Vegas despite her young age. The theatre was always packed, no matter how much each ticket cost. She always went by her stage name, and her real one was one of the many mysteries surrounding her.

      The girl next to her had tattoos all down her arms of most everything under the sun. She had a silver stud in her nose and snakebites. “I’m Masaru Ueda” she said, smiling. “I’m a tattoo artist.”

**Masaru Ueda**

**Super** **High School** **Level Tattoo Artist**

      An amazing artist, Masaru was known not only for her skill with permanent ink but her ability to keep her clients calm and distracted during the process. You’d think all the talking would distract her from her work and lower its quality. You’d be wrong.

      “My name is Airi Honda, I’m a nanny” Airi said.

       The next girl wore a pair of old, ratty jeans and a shirt that looked in need of a good washing. I could see several old scars that didn’t look all that bad, probably from getting the crap scratched out of her by a cat or something. “I’m Chiyoko Nakahara!” She declared. “Animal lover extraordinaire. You name it, I’ve trained it!”

**Chiyoko Nakahara**

**Super** **High School** **Level Animal Trainer**

      She could train any animal in any skill in under a month. She was considered one of the best in the world, and her job took her all over the world to work with all sorts of exotic breeds. She was involved in a scandal a couple years back when she was hired by a circus to train a couple of elephants and caught their lion tamer viciously whipping one of the lions. She beat him to bloody pulp and barely avoided some very serious lawsuits.

     The girl next to her, a delicate looking thing with navy hair pulled up in a high ponytail, took a wary step away from her neighbor. “My name is Izumi Mizushima, I’m a chemist.”

**Izumi Mizushima**

**Super** **High School** **Level Chemist**

     Izumi had made several break through in the field of chemistry and was part of a highly elite team of scientists from all over the world working to find a cure for cancer.

       The next girl, a very pretty one with a gentle smile, looked at them blankly for a moment before saying “I’m Kasumi Moto, weathergirl.”

**Kasumi Moto**

**Super** **High School** **Level Weathergirl**

      Kasumi was the weathergirl for one of the most watched morning news channels in Japan, though it was rumored they only hired her due to her looks. Rei and Kotone introduced themselves last.

     “Are you all done talking yet?” A childlike voice shouted from the stage. We turned to see what looked like a deranged teddy bear hop up out of nowhere. “Man, do girls every stop talking? I’ve got some important announcements to make, you bastards!”

      “Who are you?” Hikari asked.

       “Why, my name is Monobear! And I’m your new headmaster.”


	2. Please Enjoy Your Stay

     “How can a teddy bear be our headmaster?” Chiyoko demanded. “I’ve worked with bears before but they never learned how to talk, much less run a school!”

      “I’m not just any bear, I’m Monokuma!” The bear shouts. “Show some respect! Anyways, there’s been a slight change of plans.”

     “What changes?” Michi asked.

      “Well you’ll be staying at school a bit longer than expected. For about oh…I don’t know…FOREVER!”

      Izumi let out a startled squeak and stumbled back a few steps. On the other hand Sachiko took a stop forward. “Bullshit. Real funny prank, now stop it.”

     “I’m not joking! If you want to leave that badly though, there is a loophole…"

     “Tell me!” Hana ordered.

      “Okay, okay! All you gotta do is kill one of your classmates.”

       The sisters looked at each other, nodded, and then lunged at Izumi. The chemist screamed at the top of her lungs just in time for Chiyoko to grab both sisters by their collars and smash their heads together. “Are you alright?” She asked. Izumi nodded weakly.

      “No, no, you’ve got to do it secretly!” Monokuma scolded. “Also it’s got to be a one woman show, an accomplice has nothing to gain from the murder!”

      “No, no, you have to do it secretly” Hana said in a perfect copy of Monokuma’s voice with a sneer, rubbing her forehead.

      “It didn’t occur to you to mention that before we attacked her?” Haruko said. Chiyoko dropped them both to the floor with an expression of disgust.

      “Well you know now” Monokuma said. He pulled several small blue items out of who knows where and tossed them to the students. “These are your ElectroIDs, they contain the school rules and other important information. You’ll need them to get into your bedroom and the changing rooms, so don’t loose them! Your real name should appear when you turn it on, so everyone make sure you’ve got the right one.”

      I ran my hand along the thing’s surface until I found a small button. When I pressed the button the screen lit up, showing off my name in capital letters. Around me the other students did the same. “Well, that’s all I have to say. You’re dismissed!” He disappeared, leaving us alone in the gym.

      For a moment we stayed silent, then Blaze pulled some sort of shimmery powder out of who knows where and tossed it to the ground. Smoke flew up instantly and when it faded she was gone. “Oh, great.” Sachiko said, coughing. “Allergy powder.”

      “Could be worse” Masaru said. “Our two most likely killers are out of the running, as I doubt they want to leave without each other.”

      “Of course we don’t!” The Yamamoto sister snapped in unison.

      “See?” Masaru said. “We’ll be fine.”

      “E-either way, I think I’d like to go to my room now.” Izumi said.

      “I’ll walk you there, then.” Masaru said. “Everyone will know it was just the two of us, so there’s no way I’d try anything.”

      “Actually, Chiyoko and I are heading for the bedrooms too.” Kotone declared, grabbing the Animal Trainer by the wrist.

      “We are?” Chiyoko asked.

      “Yep. I’ve got a project to work on.” Kotone declared, dragging the girl out of the room. “And it starts with you taking a bath!”

      “What? No! The animals like it better when I don’t shower!”

      “I. Don’t. Care.”

       Chiyoko sent me a pleading look and I shrugged helplessly. She was quickly dragged out of the room by the surprisingly strong matchmaker. The other girls wandered out alone or in pairs, and eventually I was the only one left in the room. That didn’t bother me too much, though I hoped the others didn’t do anything stupid.

       “Hey there!”

      Hikari was back. She was really a rather tiny girl, with golden curly pigtails and an aviator jacket. “Hi” I said.

      “I’m going to look around, but Michi ditched me to go check out her room! Will you come with me?”

       I shrugged, walking over to where she stood in the doorway. “Sure.”

      “Sweet!” She said, instantly turning around and walking down the hallway. “So far all I’ve seen is a bunch of classrooms, but I didn’t get too far with Michi!”

      “There’s bound to be something else around here” I said in response.

       “Yeah, you’d think so! This is a residential school so there’s got to be more than just classrooms and dorms, right?”

       I noticed the doorway to the stairwell and tried to open it- only to find it locked. “While that may be true, I don’t know if we have access to the rest of it.”

      Hikari rushed over to the door and began pulling on it. After a minute she gave up. “Yeah, you’re right. That’s a no go.”

      I wondered why she hadn’t just taken my word for it, but I kept silent. “Still, I doubt Monokuma wants us to starve. The cafeteria is bound to be on the first floor.”

     “I bet you’re right!” Hikari said, grabbing me by the wrist and pulling me along. “Come on, I’m so hungry! Food, food, food!”

      I couldn’t understand how some people could wear all their feelings on their sleeves like that, but I smiled anyways. She may be a bit dense but Hikari seemed to be a sweet kid. “So what’s your life like?” She asked.

      “Excuse me?” I said.

      “You know family, friends, that sort of stuff.” Hikari said. “My family is all work, no play, and I was supposed to be a doctor. But I said forget that, I like planes! I’m gonna study planes! So my dad was like fine if you learn how to fly a plane by age thirteen I’ll buy you one but if you can’t you’re studying to be a doctor so I said fine.” She giggled. “And I held him to it, too.”

     “Aren’t planes really expensive?”

     “Yup! It’s just a little plane, but he got it for me! After six months of whining, but still. I fixed it up and now it’s my baby.”

      “So you’re a plane technician as well?”

      “Sorta. I can do some basic stuff, but I ended up googling how to do a lot of the fixing upping. So what about you?”

      “Come again?”

      “You’re pretty nice, but you’re also way too reserved! I told you about my family, now tell me about yours!”

      I shrugged. “Sure, if you want. My family is pretty average. I’ve got a couple of rotten little brothers who I still love. My dad got laid off from his job a couple years back and we’ve been just sort of scraping by since then. It was pretty bad for a couple months, but then my mom’s eccentric rich aunt found out and started sending us cash, so we basically live off that.”

     “Cool!” Hikari said. “Sounds like something from a story book. You know, you can tell a lot about a person from the way they grew up. Atsuko already told me her family is super athletic and religious and I’m gonna figure out the others too! Do you reckon Kotone would be interested in that info?”

     I shrugged. “I’d guess so. I don’t know how matchmakers determine things.” It was pretty obvious that Kotone planned on pairing up as many of us as possible, lack of males be damned.

      “Yeah, good point. I’ll ask her about it.” Hikari said. “Hey, look!” She said, pointing to a sign in front of a doorless entryway. The sign had the words Hotel Despair written on it in bright letters. “The sign is new, but I remember that hallway from the tour. The Cafeteria and dorms should be right through there! Food, food, food!” She cheered, dashing off before I could respond. I quickly decided to follow after her.

     The open area I ended up in had shiny black tiles and teal walls. An opening in the far wall led to a pink hallway that, from the several students hanging around it, I guessed contained the dorms. But Hikari had darted for a door to the right that was marked with a large fork and spoon- the cafeteria. I darted after her without a word and arrived in the cafeteria to find several students sitting around a few of the many small tables. “Hello” Kasumi said, lazily looking up from her sandwich. “Hikari went to the kitchen if you’re looking for her.”

      “Thanks” I said, walking across the room to the only door which I assumed led to the kitchen. I was right. The kitchen was loaded with food. There were two fridges, a stove, and a pantry.

      “Look at all this food!” Hikari cheered. “Lunchtime!”

     “Don’t stuff yourself, we’re probably going to have to make this food last for a long time.” I said.

      “Monokuma says he’ll restock anything we use” Rei said from the corner, closing one of the kitchen doors. “I walked in and he just…popped up and told me not to worry about rationing it.”

      “That’s good.” I said.

      She nodded. “Also if you plan on eating be prepared, Chiyoko snuck a lap dog here in her suitcase and it’s begging everyone for food.”

      “Okay, thanks.” I said. Rei made a small noise of acknowledgment before taking whatever she had gotten from the refrigerator over to the microwave.

      I turned my attention back to Hikari to find- “HOLY SHIT, HOW MUCH ARE YOU PLANNING ON EATING?!”


	3. It's a Small World After All

     I woke up the next morning to an unpleasant morning announcement from a far more unpleasant bear. Deciding I didn’t want to find out the hard way if there were any rules against sleeping in I forced my warm covers off and stumbled into the shower. The water was cool against my skin and I had just wrapped myself in a towel when someone started pounding on my room’s doorbell. I ignored it for a few minutes while I blow dried my hair but it didn’t let up. With hair still dripping I pulled on a bathrobe and went to crack the door open. “Yes?”

      Sachiko stood there, looking just as annoyed as I felt. “I’m glad you’ve finally decided to grace me with your presence.”

      “I was in the shower.”

      “Whatever. Atsuko is holding some sort of breakfast meeting the Cafeteria so you’re supposed to go there. Now.”

      “Okay” I said. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.” I closed the door and headed for my closet.

      Only a few minutes later I walked into the Cafeteria to find most of the girls already present. Hikari was gorging herself again, and Atsuko and Monami stood at the head of the tables they’d shoved together so we could sit together. They were talking quietly, which was what most of the others girls were doing while we waited for the few stragglers. Michi was the last one to walk in and sit down. Once she did so Atsuko turned her attention to the rest of us. “Can I have everyone’s attention, please?”

       After a minute or so everyone looked up to the girl who stood with such confidence at the head of the table. “You may have my attention for now, but I’ve got magic to work on soon so make it snappy” Blaze said.

      “Great. Okay, I called you here to talk about our situation.” This caused general muttering. “Quiet, please. Guys as much as I hate to say it, we’re a danger to each other. Monokuma has pulled up barriers of fear and distrust between us, and to be perfectly frank they’re not bad barriers to have. Anyone in this room could be plotting murder, and I don’t want it to happen. Don’t get me wrong, I hate the idea of staying in this place but I know we can find a way to escape that doesn’t involve murder.”

      “Are you sure?” Rei said. “This place is locked down pretty tight.”

      Atsuko nodded. “Hundred percent. Look at who you’re sitting with! Survivalist, pilot, athletes, geniuses! There’s no way we can’t figure this out if we don’t work together. But until we come up with a way out, I think we should establish some rules for our own safety.”

      “Sure, if you wanna” Hana said. “Just don’t expect me to follow them.” Haruka nodded in agreement.

      Atsuko looked at them for a moment, but with a sigh she simply turned her attention back to the group. “Okay, first of all: don’t go out at night without at least two others. The rooms are soundproof, which makes night time a very easy time to attack someone with very little risk of discovery. Second, don’t go in anyone else’s room-”

      “Not happening” Haruka said. “Me and Hana are sharing a room.”

      “Fine.” Atsuko said. “But for the rest of you, keep to your own rooms. As previously stated the rooms are soundproof which makes it a very easy way to kill someone and get away with it.” A few of the girls shifted uncomfortably at the word kill. “You heard me. Kill. Murder. Ending another person’s life. Number three, don’t wander off farther than screaming distance of at least two of your classmates. Four, we all meet here and eat breakfast an hour after the morning announcement every day. That way we’ll know instantly if someone is missing.”

      The rules were accepted without much complaint before those of us who hadn’t eaten yet went to the back to rummage around the kitchen. I ended up eating a granola bar as everyone slowly trickled out of the room. This time I wasn’t the last one to leave as I decided to take a better look around the first floor of the building. I tossed the wrapper in the trash can and walked out the door. I remembered several interesting doors from my walk with Hikari. I know the gym was on this floor, as well as Hotel Despair. Aside from those I’d seen a pure white door with a medical cross, a large purple door, and a small out of the way orange door.

     I headed to the door with the medical cross first and was unsurprised to find the Infirmary. Michi was rummaging through the pill bottles in the back. “I need insomnia medicine or I can’t sleep” she said, not even turning around to face me.

      “Okay” I said, looking around the room for a minute. It was a bit smaller than the classrooms with shiny white floors and that sterile smell that seems to fill any medical facility no matter where you were. “Bye.”

      “Bye.” Michi said. I turned and left the room. Next I decided to investigate the purple door. I opened it and found myself in a fairly basic room with wooden floors and racks of pool supplies pushed to the side. Two doors stood at the other side of the room, one labeled students and the other staff. I walked over to the student door and noticed the card slot. Hoping that I wasn’t messing this up, I stuck my card in. It was silent for a minute, then the small screen lit up green and spat my card back out. I heard a click from the door and opened it to find what was apparently the student’s changing room.

      I ignored the neatly folded stacks of school issue swimsuits and walked through the other door to find, not at all to my surprise, a pool. Monami sat in one of the pool chairs, reading another thick book while Atsuko swam laps and Kotone stood at the edge of the shallow end, trying to convince Izumi to put on a bikini she’d gotten from who knows where.

      “Hey, Kaori!” Kotone called over to me. “Don’t you think Izumi would look super cute in this swimsuit?”

      I looked at them and shrugged. “I don’t know.” Kotone pouted, but returned her attention to Izumi. Her shouting had gotten Monami to look up from her book. The historian smiled at me before retuning to the volume.

     That just left the orange door. I left the pool area and headed towards where I’d seen it, in an out of the way corridor with even worse lighting than most of the hallways. Deciding it was in my best interest to follow the rules I noted that both Masaru and Airi were nearby before heading down the dark hallway. The light bulb in this area was blue, though the light was very weak. It was a two way hallway with the orange door in the middle. I walked over to door and looked inside. The room was old and dusty with the only furniture being a chair with leather straps on the arm rests and one of Monokuma’s security cameras. I decided not to dwell on the bleed at the top of the chair.

     I heard the door open and close just as quickly, and before I could react the lights turned off and I was left in darkness. I turned in a circle, hair flying, desperately searching for any tell tale shadows that could point to the other girl I knew lurked in the room. I could believe in a power outage, but with the door opening and loosing right before it I knew there was more than just failing electricity behind this. Suddenly a hand slapped itself over my mouth, cold and dusty. If I could’ve gotten a breath through my mouth I would’ve sneezed. Then there was more skin, this time an arm reached around my neck and locking it in the elbow. I was pulled against another girl as the arm squeezed tighter. My attacker was trying to strangle me.

       She would have succeeded if an instinct I didn’t know I had hadn’t kicked in. I opened my mouth as wide as I could and ripped into the hand that covered it. More dust along with the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth as I forced myself to bite down harder. Whoever it was swore and ripped their hand out and away from my mouth- long enough for me to scream at the top of my lungs. They cursed again, louder this time and my sense of gravity was suddenly thrown off. Something slammed into my head and arm- probably the floor. I heard the door slam as my attacker fled the scene.

      Less than a minute later the door flew open. Light flooded the room once again and I saw that Airi had one hand on the switch, a look of absolute terror on her face. Something hot and sticky was dripping down my forehead. I wasn’t even aware that I was trembling until a gentle hand was set on my arm to keep me still. “Hey, Kaori” Masaru said, smiling gently at me. “Are you okay?” I managed a nod. “Ah, that’s good. You scared us, you know. You shouldn’t do that. This is an interesting room you found, I don’t think any of the others noticed it.” Her tone had a soothing quality to it as she distracted me from my terror with random conversation.

     “I’m going to go get the others” Airi said, rushing out of the room. A few minutes later and Masaru had succeeded in calming me down by the time Atsuko burst into the room.

      “I am so sorry” she said, falling to the ground where my attacker had tossed me. “I should’ve come up with better rules- some sort of system. I should have stopped this-”

     “How?” Sachiko said, choosing to remain standing with the other girls who were now stuffing themselves in a room really not meant to hold sixteen people. “This is a killing game that feeds off the desperation of the gifted. Have you noticed some of the fields our dear classmates are in? Those are competitive businesses, you all probably did your own share of underhanded things to get where you are. This may not even be her attacker’s first murder attempt.”

     “Sachiko, do everyone a favor and shut up” Michi said icily, walking over to sit next to me. She looked at the wound for a minute then nodded. “It’s not too bad, head wounds always bleed a lot. Still we should probably get that bandaged up.”

      “If you say so” I said. “But are you sure? It doesn’t seem to hurt that much.”

      “That’s because you’re in shock” Michi said. “Come on.” I let her and Atsuko pull me to be feet and then escort me to the infirmary. As they herded me out of the room I looked back at the other girls. Fifteen gifted students of every field. A bloody room filled geniuses, athletes, and liars whose skills rivaled those of masters twice their ages.

     One of them had just tried to kill me, but that wasn’t what scared me. What scared me was that while I had proved too difficult a victim, not all of the others would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that's pretty much it for setting. There were some pretty big clues pointer to Kaori's attacker if you know where to look. I'm sorry this chapter took so long to get up, it's been a busy couple of weeks.


	4. The Ballad of Innocence Lost

      Two days passed in hallways all colors of the rainbow and our hope of a rescue from outside or finding an exit quickly began to crumble. Groups began to form and Atsuko remained our sort-of leader, though most of her time was spent with Monami. I left my room at about nine on the fifth day of our imprisonment and saw Kasumi walked towards the Cafeteria.

      She smiled at me as I walked along. “Good morning, Kaori” she said. It was unusual for her to not be in the Cafeteria by six, but I didn’t bring it up. This place was affecting all of us.

       “Good morning” I said in response, and we both walked into the Cafeteria.

       “Hi, Kaori!” Hikari called, waving at me from where she sat with Chiyoko and Blaze. I wasn’t sure how I ended up eating most of my meals with such a hot blooded group but I walked over to sit with them anyways. Chiyoko pushed a plate with a fried egg sandwich on it towards me and I took it gratefully.

       “Thanks” I said, and began to eat. The other three talked while they ate but I remained fairly quiet. I was about halfway through my sandwich when awful, blood curdling scream like nails on a chalkboard ripped through the entire building. In an instant most everyone in the room was on their feet and headed for the source of the screaming- the dorms. Atsuko’s door was wide open, and inside someone had not stopped screaming.

       Chiyoko, who out of all of us besides Atsuko was probably in the best shape, reached the room first. She dove inside and we heard her swear- loudly. The rest of us rushed in to find Chiyoko trying to drag a still screaming Monami away from- from-

      At first you couldn’t even tell her hair was gold, it was so coated in blood. But the ponytail was still there, trailing off the side. Her face was buried in the scarlet soaked carpet and one hand reached forward as if to pull herself away, away from the truth that filled this room. Away from the awful stench of despair and defeat. Atsuko Maki, Super High School Level Tennis Player, was dead.

      “A corpse has been found, a corpse has been found!” Mookuma’s voice called from the loudspeaker. “After a short investigation period we’ll be holding a Class Trial to find the killer! Good luck!"

      Masaru ignored the announcement and joined Chiyoko in the attempt to pull Monami away. Together they managed to drag the still screaming historian out into the hallway where she wouldn’t have to keep looking at her best friend’s corpse. I took a deep breath and took a shaky step towards the body. “You heard the bear” I said. “We need to investigate.”

       “Yeah, you do that” Hana said, her eyes wide with badly concealed shock. “I’m going back to breakfast.” She turned and left, her sister following behind.

       “This isn’t a new injury” Rei said, kneeling down next to the body. “See how the blood has dried? It’s several hours old. This happened during nighttime.”

      “How do you know that?” Kotone asked, her tone accusing.

     “I’ve taken several first aid classes” Rei said. “It’s not hard to tell once someone shows you how.”

       “Can you guys talk more quietly?” Chiyoko said, walking back into the room. “We’re still trying to get Monami to stop screaming and this talk about her friend’s murder isn’t helping.” She grimaced. “And how are you all being so casual? Someone just _killed_ one of our classmates.”

      “It’s best to stay calm in these situations” Rei said. I nodded in agreement.

      “We’ll talk more quietly” I said. “You keep trying to calm down Monami.”

      “I’m not much help with that” Chiyoko said. “I’ll look around for any kind of evidence.” Most of the other girls had already gone off to do just that.

       “Okay” I said. “Rei and I will keep looking around in here.”

      “We’ll also make sure no one tampers with the crime scene.” Rei added, still studying the injuries.

        “Good luck” Chiyoko said, and she walked out.

       “This is odd” Rei said, looking at the injury. “The wound doesn’t look near big enough to have spilt this much blood. It was clearly blunt force trauma to the back of the head, but the injury doesn’t look too bad.”

       “Keep looking, I’m going to check the room” I said, walking around the room. Rei didn’t reply.

      The room seemed to have the same basic layout as my own, though Atsuko had several books and sports supplies place around. The room itself was very neat and organized, but her bed was messy. I walked over to it and pulled the covers back- and I found Atsuko’s tennis racket.

       The handle of the racket was coated in blood. “Rei, I may have found the murder weapon” I said. She looked up long enough to look at the weapon and her eye’s widened.

       “That matches the wound, but I wouldn’t think it could cause a fatal injury with one swing” she paused. “With one swing…” she ran her hand through Atsuko’s hair, brushing it aside to check for something I couldn’t see. “Ah, it makes sense now. There isn’t one injury here, there’s many. She wasn’t killed by just one strike.”

      “At least that’s sorted” I said. I walked into the bathroom- and muffled a scream. Atsuko’s sink was full of water stained deep, deep red. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. When I opened them again the scene hadn’t changed, but my emotions were in control. “The sink is full of bloody water” I called back to Rei. Outside Monami started screaming again.

      I walked back into the room guiltily “you probably shouldn’t have shouted that” Rei commented, checking over the body for other injuries.

      “No, probably not” I said. “Any other injuries?”

      “Her left ankle is broken” Rei said. “It explains why she was trying to crawl away instead of standing up. Aside from that, no.” She stood and looked at her blood stained clothes. “I’m going to go change before the trial.” She said and walked out the door. I could hear Monami wail as Rei walked out, wearing her new red coat.

      I walked out as well to see Masaru still had a hold on Monami and was trying to calm her down the same was she’d calmed me down after I was attacked. Monami’s eyes were puffy and red, and her elegant hair loops and bun had come loose. “Don’t go in there” I said to Masaru as I passed, trying not to look at Monami. I was angry. Whoever had done this had not only murdered one of their classmates, they’d made delicate little Monami cry. And it didn’t look like she’d be stopping anytime soon. I wondered how many of my classmates had locked themselves in their rooms to cry, or simply closed their doors out of paranoia.

       But that didn’t seem to be a very effective method, considering that Atsuko had been murdered in her own bedroom with her own sports equipment. I looked down at my hands, speckled with blood from handling the tennis racket and wondered why I didn’t feel affected. Maybe it was because I hadn’t really known Atsuko, or that I’d just gotten used to the concept of this game over the past five days. Either way my cold indifference hadn’t broke until I’d seen Monami bawling.

      I could feel the emotions pouring through the crack now: anger and sadness, confusion and grief, and the question that kept running through my head over and over “it can’t be true. They wouldn’t hurt her. She was-”

      And it cut off. She was what? What was she to the girls trapped in this building? What was she to me? Somewhere deep in my subconscious I knew the answer, but I just couldn’t reach it. I began listing things in my head as a stumbled towards my room. None of them seemed to fit.

       Not leader, not athlete.

      Open the door and lock it.

      Not friend, not sister.

      Sit down on the bed, take a deep breath.

      This can’t be true. They wouldn’t hurt her. She was-

      our hope.

      My eyes, which had been slowly closing, snapped back open. Atsuko had once told us she believed that we could get out of here without resorting to murder. She had stood in the light even when the rest of us began to fall into the inky black hands of despair. Atsuko Maki had been our one beacon of hope.

      And now she was dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we have our first kill. The next chapter will focus on the class trail and I'm expecting it to be rather long.  
> Also, someone requested a better idea of what the characters look like. I plan to draw them and add the pictures to the first chapter though it may take a while.  
> I'm hoping to make this story a bit more illustrated, but it's anyone's guess as to how long it will take.
> 
> There's a pretty big difference between the girls in this stories and the students in the original games: this group do not get the Monokuma files. They've just got to figure it out on their own.


	5. Liar, Liar the World's on Fire

     I awoke to the sound of Monokuma’s voice, ripping at my eardrums and pouring blood back into a world where I’d been having a pleasant dream for once. He tipped blood back onto Atsuko’s head and my attacker’s hands and I wiped away tears I didn’t realize I’d let fall.

      “Attention, students! The investigation period is now over, please report to the orange door for the class trial!”

     The orange door? Were we going to discuss the murder in that bloody room? I stood, wiped any of the clinging tears off my face and walked out the door with as much dignity as I could muster. Several of the other students were doing the same, and Masaru was attempting to coax a once again bawling Monami into walking with her.

      “You really don’t match your appearance, do you?” Hana sneered, walking down the hallway with her sister close behind. To everyone’s shock she scooped a bawling Monami up in her arms and started carrying her down the hallway bridal style. Monami was so surprised she actually stopped sobbing and quietly let Hana cart her off to the bloody room. The rest of us followed behind.

      Before long we reached the orange door where Rei, Izumi, and Kotone were already waiting. Kotone’s eyes widened at the sight of Hana carrying Monami, only for Hana to shove the girl into a startled Rei’s arms. “Don’t get any ideas” she sneered. “The only person I need in this life is Haruko.” Haruko walked over to stand next to her sister and nodded in agreement.

      Rei carefully set Monami on the ground, where she stood and turned to face the door. “I-I guess we better go in” Izumi said.

     “Don’t bother!” Monokuma’s voice shouted from nowhere, and below us there was a clicking noise. A trapdoor in the floor opened to reveal countless wooden stairs leading down into darkness. “Time to head down girlies!”

      Izumi looked warily at the steps. “It’s so…dirty.”

      “Get over it, princess” Sachiko said, shoving the girl to the side and heading down the old steps. They creaked under her feet and seemed about ready to break, but you’d think someone like Sachiko would have no reason to worry about bad luck. The rest of us followed her.

      We went down and down in tight circles of dusty wooden stairs, our only light coming from the candles that ever so often lit the passageway. Finally after what felt like years upon years of walking the circles emptied out into a large, dimly lit room. The walls were the natural earth that must surround the area, and same as the stairs this room was also badly lit by candles. In the center were sixteen podiums arranged in a circle, and behind them was a comfy looking red throne with a portrait hanging from it- a girl with pigtails, her face covered by what looked like Monokuma’s face in red ink. I could’ve sworn I’d seen her on magazine covers, but fashion was never my thing. A candle stood on each of the armrests, arms of smoke lazily reaching for the ceiling.

      “Welcome you bastards, to the Class Trial!” Monokuma’s voice echoed form nowhere. “I’m afraid I’ll just be watching this through the security camera, candle smoke is bad for my allergies. Anyways, find the podium with your name on it and stand there then discuss who you think did it and that sort of thing. If you get it right, I’ll execute the killer! But if you get it wrong…well…upupupupu…” and the voice was gone.

       “Killing the killer?” Airi whimpered. “Isn’t that a bit much?” Monokuma didn’t respond.

      “I guess we better find our spots.” Michi said, walking over to the podiums. We followed after her. Each of the podiums had a small nameplate on the front engraved with a name. Each podium was empty, waiting for its owner to find it. All except one that was: in the spot that should have held Atsuko Maki was a portrait of the girl in question with a pair of tennis rackets in red ink forming an X over the picture. It stood on a tall golden pole, which I guessed signified Atsuko’s place as one of our group’s taller members. A few looked ready to kick it down but most of us tried to ignore the picture in favor of finding our spots.

      “I win!” Hikari cheered. “I found mine before you did!” She walked into her podium- and instantly, a back of the podium similar to the front popped up and trapped her. “HEY! What the heck is this?”

      “I think the message is pretty clear” Haruko said. “No one leaves this trial until Monokuma lets us out, one way or another.” Hana, having found her podium, called Haruko over to her and sure enough theirs were side by side.

      I was one of the last to find my podium, and ended up between Hikari and Rei. The wooden barrier slammed shut behind me, and the circular area in the center of the area suddenly burst into light revealing the letters W H O in bold red letters. A giant question mark stood behind it. I saw red and all I could think of was Atsuko blood, running everywhere, rioters, pain, that horrible humming-

      I blinked and the confusing thoughts were gone. Something strange had entered my brain for that one moment, but now it was gone. “Let the Class Trial commence!” Blaze declared, throwing her cape out behind her.

      “All right then” Rei said. “Let’s start with the cause of death. As I said earlier, it was blunt force trauma to the head. Looking farther into it, I have reason to believe that it was several blows to the head.”

      “Basically you’re saying she was beat to death” Haruko said. Monami looked like she wanted to cry.

       “Well…um…yes, basically” Rei said. “Kaori would you like to take it from here?”

       Rei was clearly uncomfortable with the situation, so I nodded. “While Rei was looking at the body, I was checking around the room. It wasn’t too hard to find her tennis racket, which was under the cover of her bed and coated in her blood.” Several of the group’s members looked somewhat disgusted. “I believe it may be the murder weapon.”

      “I don’t see a lot of question about whether it was or not” Chiyoko said. “Seems pretty straightforward to me.” Kasumi lazily nodded in agreement.

       “Okay, so we’ve got our murder weapon.” Masaru said. “However it doesn’t help us point to the killer.”

      “No, I’m afraid not” I said.

      “Was there anything else in her bedroom worth noting?” Izumi asked.

      “The sink was full of bloody water” Rei said.

      “I though the showers didn’t work at night” Hikari said.

      “They don’t, but the sinks do” Airi said.

        “Oh…okay, then.” Hikari said, accepting the motherly girl’s word as law.

       “Do you reckon the killer cleaned themselves off with water from the sink?” Hana asked.

       “That seems a little far fetched unless it was just the hands” Haruko said. Had anyone else made the same guess, she would have cruelly shot them down. Hana was clearly an exception. “However it was most likely used to wash something.”

       “But the tennis racket was still bloody when Kaori found it.” Sachiko said.

       “Maybe they just washed off the head of the tennis racket?” Kasumi said.

       “Why on Earth would the killer do something that stupid?” Haruko snarled. Kasumi smiled her usual gentle smile and shrugged.

      “I don’t know, I guess it’s possible” Kasumi said.

      “Anyways, you’re all forgetting the person we should be focusing on” Rei said.

      “And who is that?” Monami asked, speaking up for the first time in the trial.

      “Kaori’s attacker” Rei said. “Odds are it’s the same person.”

      Several of the other girls nodded in agreement. “Kaori, what do you remember about your attacker?” Izumi asked.

       “I remember a ridiculous amount of dust on their hands. It got in my mouth when I bit the one over it so I could break free.” I said, trying to think back to the incident. “She were fairly strong, too.”

      “She tried to strangle you, right?” Michi asked. I nodded.

      “That probably means they were taller than you” Masaru said. “Who does that limit it to?”

      “A good two thirds of the group” Kotone said. “Let’s see…if you’re right, that knocks out Hikari, Monami, and-” she was cut off by a soft snickering. “Do you have something to say, Sachiko?” She asked icily.

       “Sorry” Sachiko said, still giggling. “It’s just that it’s so obvious. I thought you all were supposed to be gifted.”

       “Don’t you dare talk about Haruko like that!” Hana snapped.

      Izumi gasped and we all turned to look at her. Sachiko smirked. “Have you figured it out?” Izumi whimpered and shook her head.

      “Hey, what’s wrong?” Masaru asked.

       “I don’t want to believe it” Izumi said softly. “But…it- it all points to-”

       “You mentioned dust, right?” Haruko asked. I nodded. “Then I’ve figured it out, too. Riddle me this, little schoolgirls: who here has a tendency towards dramatics such as strangulation, infamously smells of dust, and has a very easy way to cover a wound on their hand?”

       One by one light dawned in the girl’s eyes, and the culprit’s eyes widened as she realized she was found out. In the end, it was Michi who spoke. Her voice was quiet and icy, her eyes accusing. “Blaze, take off your gloves.”

      Blaze pulled at the white fabric that covered her hands. She shuddered once, then forced her head up to look me in the eye. “There’s no need” she said, her voice trembling. “I admit it. I attacked Kaori.”

      The group was silent as Blaze and I silently stared at each other. She looked away first. “I know you won’t believe me” Blaze said “but I didn’t kill Atsuko. I can’t say I have any proof, though.”

      “No, you don’t” Hana said. “And you’re right, I don’t believe you. I say we hand her over to Monokuma right now!” 

      “Actually I’d rather think about the case a bit more before we come to that sort of decision” Masaru said. “What I’d like to know is how the killer got into Atsuko’s room. The locks work, and Atsuko was one of the most paranoid out of the sixteen of us.”

      “That’s a good point” Chiyoko said. “I tried to go over and ask the girl if I could borrow a ball to play with Cocoa, and she gave me one. But she made me wait outside with her door locked while she went to get it.”

      “U-um” Monami said “the reason I went to check on Atsuko in the first place was because there was blood in front of her door.”

      “It probably wasn’t hers” Izumi said. “If it was, there would’ve been some sort of blood trail between there and where we found the body.”

      “That means it was probably the killer’s.” Airi said.

      “Wouldn’t that mean the killer would have some sort of wound on them?” Kotone said.

      “Not necessarily” Rei said. “I took full stock of the Infirmary when we were first looking around. The mini fridge is full of blood packets.”

      “So the killer used those packets to make it seem like they were injured so Atsuko would let them into her room.” Sachiko said. “Then they washed the bloodied area off in the sink.”

      “There are first aid kits in all the bedside drawers, Atsuko was probably heading for it when her plotting guest grabbed the nearest weapon- her tennis racket- and beat her to death with it.” Haruko said.

      “Hey, what side of the weapon did they use?” Blaze asked.

      “The handle” I said.

      “That proved I didn’t do it!” Blaze declared. “I know how leverage works! If you used the handle you’d get less leverage and it would take considerably more effort to beat someone to death.”

     “She’s right” Izumi said. “I know that too, so I didn’t do it.”

     “Izumi” Kotone said. “What are you not telling us?”

      Izumi looked surprised. “Come again?”

      “I know when someone isn’t saying everyone they know.” Kotone explained. “You know something more, but you’re not telling us.”

       Izumi looked around nervously. “It’s just a thought. It’s probably nothing, I probably misheard it.”

       “Any little thing could be helpful” Masaru encouraged.

      Izumi took in a deep breath and said “Kasumi knew what side of the tennis racket had blood on it before Kaori told us.”

      Sachiko smirked. “You all took your sweet time noticing.”

       Kasumi looked at Izumi with sleepy, half-lidded eyes. “So? I just saw it in the corner of the room.”

       “It was under the bed covers” Rei said. Everyone had turned to look at Kasumi now.

       “You’ve seemed awful tired, Kasumi” Haruko said. “Almost like you were up all night doing something.”

       Kasumi smirked and lifted her head up to stand at her full height- and for the first time, she made it clear that she was the tallest member of our group. She stretched back her arms and yawned. When her arms fell back to her side, the Kasumi we knew seemed to have disappeared like smoke. “Correct. I’ve been a filthy liar since day one, the sleepy ditz you all knows doesn’t exist.”

     “You killed Atsuko?” Monami asked. Kasumi nodded. “W-why?”

      “Because she made me mad” Kasumi said, her voice like ice. “That gentle, ditzy girl you all know doesn’t really exist. She’s just a very well designed mask, and under that mask is a girl who knows just how disgusting this world is.”

      “And why would that make you want to kill Atsuko? She didn’t do anything to you!” Hikari said.

      “I just said she made me mad. She kept insisting that we had hope and that we could all work together” Kasumi sneered. “People who lie to themselves about the darkness in this world disgust me.”

     “Where did you see that much darkness, Kasumi?” Kotone asked.

      “You’ve heard the rumors that I only got my job because of my looks, right?” A good portion of the group nodded. “Well they’re completely true. The men in the studio like to spend their free time making lewd comments and trying to trick me into thinking I need to do unsavory things for them to keep my job. And a good portion of them are married.” The look on her face told me that they had done more than try to convince her with their words- that maybe- but I cut the thought off. It didn’t matter what had happened, because no matter what it was it had destroyed Kasumi.

     “Upupupupu, have you guys reached a decision?” Monokuma’s voice echoed around the room from nowhere. “If you have, then it’s time to vote!” Sixteen previously unnoticed buttons lit up on the front of the podiums, each of them marked with a name underneath it. “You’ve only got one vote, so make it count!”

      “Go ahead, then” Kasumi said. “What did I tell you? This world is filthy, and you all will more than willingly sacrifice me to save yourselves. I won’t hold it against you, though. I’d do the same.” I pressed down the button marked with her name and as near as I could tell the others around me did the same.

      After a minute, the giant letters and question mark in the middle of the trial area began to flash between red and yellow. Balloons fell from the sky. “Congratulations, you bastards got it right!” Monokuma declared. “Kasumi Moto killed Atsuko Maki! Any last words before your punishment, Kasumi?”

     “A couple, actually.” Kasumi pointed to the picture of the pigtailed girl. “Something tells me you all ought to know that girl’s name is Junko Enoshima, and that she went to Hope’s Peak Academy.” As soon as that was said she tried to jump out of her podium and away from Monobear, but a giant chain came out of the dark and snapped shut around her waist. For a moment everything was still, then with a mechanical whirring it pulled her out of her podium and into the back of the room.

      The area Kasumi was being dragged to was under construction. Giant black pillars pulled themselves out of the ground and a third one dropped on top to form what looked like a giant TV screen. A giant flat map of Earth rolled out behind it and cartoonish cutout clouds and suns were stuck into place on the map.

**World's End Forecast**

      The chain Kasumi was attached to hung over the top pillar, leaving her dangling in the center of the map by her waist. She was kicking and flailing, screaming at the top of her lungs in some desperate attempt to escape the inevitable. The clouds and suns started to drift around the map, and the scene looked fairly innocent aside from Kasumi’s cursing and flailing. A massive wooden arm came out of nowhere, and it attached a tiny cut out tornado to the corner of the map. It started to run up along the map, and when it reached Hawaii it ran straight over. But when we looked at Hawaii again however, the islands were crossed out by a giant red X.

     That’s when things started to go bad for Kasumi.

     The tornado reached her foot- and horrible, screaming wind burst through the area. The chain flailed about like a leaf, and Kasumi was slammed into the pillars and map behind her. Something in her ankle snapped against the pillar, and her screams doubled. The tornado moved on, but now more chaotic events were being added to the map- tornados, hurricanes, blizzards, earthquakes, volcanoes, and a million other things were attached and began to wander around the map. Every time one touched her, it would produce a different affect. The pieces didn’t fall off once they touched her, but wandered around X-ing out more and more countries. Occasionally they’d come back and attack her again. Before long the beauty she was so well known for was gone.

       Kasumi was a squirming, writhing mess of blood and torn clothes when Monokuma popped up out of nowhere and whispered something to her. She though about whatever he’d said for about half a minute, then spat a mouthful of blood on his face. Monokuma disappeared.

     By now every country had been crossed out, and in a sudden shudder all the small pieces fell off the map. The wooden arms extended once more and attached a symbol to Kasumi’s chest- a lightning bolt. There was a moment of complete silence- and then all we could see of Kasumi was the explosion of electricity. We heard her scream. It was a raw, guttural cry that begged for mercy. It dug at my eardrums, crawling its way in and whispering again and again “you did this. You did this to me. I wouldn’t be suffering if you hadn’t voted for me.”

     The light faded, and we were left to stare in horror at the mess still chained up to that map. It was a mess that didn’t look quite human. “Hey, we’re free!” Hikari shouted, jumping out of her podium. The back doors of the wooden structures had sunk back into the floor.  

       “Hey, Monokuma!” Chiyoko shouted. “What was with that? I thought that was supposed to be an execution, but a lot of it just looked like cold blooded torture to me.”

     “Do you think that lightning would have finished her if she wasn’t already a wreck?” Monokuma asked, his voice once again echoing from nowhere.. “Anyways I’ve unlocked the second floor for you bastards so go explore. More importantly, GET OUT OF MY TRIAL ROOM!”

     We looked at each other and silently headed up the circling staircases, away from the room where the echoes of Kasumi’s agonized screams still gouged the story of her suffering into the air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry about the wait! I hope I wrote the trial decently...


	6. Character Descriptions - SPOILER FREE

Kaori Oshiro – SHSL ???

Kaori is on the shorter side of the spectrum at 5’3. She has orange hair, and allows some of it on the sides to stay loose, which is about shoulder length. However the majority of her hair is pulled up in a high ponytail that goes just below her shoulders, meaning the hair in the back is longer than the hair in the front. She has long fingers, dark blue eyes, and has some curves though they’re nothing to boast about. She generally wears a sky blue top over a gray tank top and a dark green skirt.

 

Rei Kawaguchi – SHSL Survivalist

Rei is one of the taller girls at 5’7. She’s got long arms and is tanned due to the amount of time she spends outside. Her hair is dark green and is pulled in a short, tight French braid. Her eyes are blue and she has a somewhat narrow face, and is covered in wiry muscle. She has very little in the way of curves, and generally wears her beloved old jacket over t-shirts. The jacket is one of those sleeveless, tan, Indiana Jones looking things that archeologists and the like wear. She also usually wears shorts and will only wear shoes besides hiking boots for formal events.

 

Michi Akiyama – SHSL Radio Show Host

Michi is about average height at 5’5. She’s not really pretty, but she’s not ugly either. Her skin is naturally somewhat tanned and her hair is a dirty blonde that curls around her face and just barely brushes her shoulders. Her eyes are a jade green and she generally wears t-shirts and jeans, but she’s never seen without her oversized red sports jacket. The name on the back of it isn’t her own.

 

Airi Honda – SHSL Nanny

Airi is about 5’6. She’s rather busty and has a natural prettiness to her. Her eyes are a light green and her hair is orange. Said hair flows halfway down her back and is held back with a green headband. She wears a pink dress under an apron that she uses to keep small children from getting paint splatters and the like all over her. She doesn’t wear makeup and doesn’t seem all that intimidating.

 

Hikari Inoue – SHSL Pilot

Hikari is the second shortest student in the class at exactly 5 feet. Her eyes are a hazel color and her hair is golden and extremely curly. She wears it up in a pair of pigtails that don’t even reach her shoulders. She generally wears all sorts of shorts, from biker shorts to blue jean shorts, along with her aviator jacket. She never takes said jacket off.

 

Kotone Himura – SHSL Matchmaker

Kotone is about 5’4. She’s rather flat chested, but has large hips and always wears short, flattering dresses. Her hair is hot pink and barely reaches her shoulders in the front, and it’s even shorter in the back. Her eyes are hot pink as well and she always carries around a pink notebook that she writes down ideas in. She wears heels that have two or more inches, and is never seen without a golden, heart-shaped locket.

 

Hana Yamamoto – SHSL Voice Actress

Hana is about 5’6. She’s curvy and is on the chubby side, with obvious muscles in her arms. Her hair is bright red and is held up in two high pigtails that barely reach past her shoulders and eyes are steel gray. She generally wears shirts with ruffles and polka dots, generally in colors that match her hair. She always wears skirts and high heels.

 

Haruko Yamamoto – SHSL Animator

Haruko is about 5’5. It’s easy to see that she and Hana are related, but Haruko looks older by a good bit. She’s smaller than her sister and has less in the way of curves and muscles. Her hair is the same shade of red as Hana’s, but Haruko’s is pixie cut. Her eyes are also steel gray, but she wears simple, fashionable glasses over hers. She generally wears long sleeved, v-neck shirts and skirts. She always wears the same scarlet scarf and high heeled boots.

 

Masaru Ueda – SHSL Tattoo Artist

Masaru is about 5’7. At first her appearance may be a bit intimidating, as she wears black tank tops, skinny jeans, and an old pair of black high heeled combat boots all the time. Her ears are also pierced in several places, and she also has snakebites and a piercing in her left eyebrow. Her arms are covered in tattoo sleeves made of most everything under the sun. Her hair is all pulled onto the right side of her face and the left side of her head is shaved. Her hair doesn’t reach her shoulders, but it covers her right eye simply due to how much of it is on that side of her face. Her hair is dyed dark purple, hot pink, and electric blue.

 

Blaze – SHSL Magician

Blaze is about 5’4. She’s one of the more curvy of the girls and is naturally rather tan. She wears a black leotard, a bright red cape, black high heels, a top hat, and white magician gloves all the time. Her eyes are a midnight blue and her hair is black. Her hair barely reaches her shoulder blades and the tips are dyed bright red. She has a few freckles along her cheeks, though she tries to cover them with makeup.

 

Atsuko Maki – SHSL Tennis Player

Atsuko is one of the group tallest members at 5’8. She’s not very curvy but is very tan and athletic looking. Her hair is golden and is pulled in a side ponytail that she wears over her shoulder. Her eyes are a warm chocolate brown and she’s probably one of the prettiest girls in the group but she never bothers with her appearance that much. She generally wears loose fitting t-shirts, athletic shorts, and tennis shoes.  

 

Kasumi Moto – SHSL Weathergirl

Kasumi is the tallest member of the cast at 5’11. She’s easily the most beautiful girl of the cast, simply due to the fact that she’s model-level gorgeous. She extremely curvy and wears low cut v-necks and miniskirts that leave very little to the imagination. She wears extremely high heels on top of that, making her look above six feet tall. Her eyes are jade green and her hair is black. Her hair is held in countless, thin black braids that go past her shoulder blades.

 

Sachiko Watanabe – SHSL Good Luck

Sachiko is about 5’4. She’s a bottle blonde and her hair goes down her back in layers, despite it being the consistency of straw. She seems to be pretty, but it’s kind of hard to tell under all the layers of makeup. She’s on the curvy side and wears an adjusted school uniform- her sailor skirt is cut so short its practically a belt and her undershirt has been turned into a halter top. Her jacket, which she wears over it, is the only thing that hasn’t been edited. She wears hot pink stiletto heels and her eyes are light blue.

 

Izumi Mizushima – SHSL Chemist

Izumi is about 5’3. She looks more like a porcelain doll than a person and naturally looks very fragile. Her skin is very pale and both her hair and eyes are a navy color. She has very large eyes and her hair is pulled up in a high ponytail that barely reaches her shoulder blades. She’s very skinny with little in the way of curves and generally wears modest button ups and pencil skirts under her lab coat.

 

Chiyoko Nakahara – SHSL Animal Trainer

Chiyoko is about 5’7. She’s very dark skinned and is on the curvy side. She has a lot of visible muscle and a few freckles across her cheeks. Her hair is dark brown, shoulder length, and is generally a massive mess. Her eyes are dark green and she’s generally rather filthy. She has several old scars due to unfriendly animals and never really wears anything besides old t-shirts and jeans.

 

Monami Tachibana – SHSL Historian

Monami is by far the shortest of the students at 4’8. She looks more like a middle school kid than a high schooler simply due to being so short and having very little in the way of curves. Her hair is a light violet and she wears it in several complicated loops like the ones worn by Chinese women in ancient times. Her eyes are so dark they practically look black and she almost always wears a beautiful, light violet kimono that brushes the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that I haven't been updating! I've given up on drawing the characters, so I just wrote out descriptions. You don't have to read this if you don't want to, it's not essential to the story.


	7. Positive Reinforcement

     Blaze was the last of us to climb up the final stairs that reached the first floor, and the second she was out the trap door snapped shut behind her. The sound of a lock clicking confirmed we wouldn’t be getting back in there any time soon. For a moment we stood there in silence, but slowly small groups broke off and left the area. The loose feeling of unity we’d had under Atsuko’s leadership had been completely and utterly destroyed. I briefly wondered if someone would try and take up the helm, but I dismissed the thought. Kasumi had made the position a threat to its owner’s life, so it probably wasn’t going to be very popular.

      “Hey, Kaori!” I looked up to see Masaru walked over to me, her usual smirk having made its return. A lot of people wouldn’t have been able to see it was forced, so I chose not to mention I could. “You feeling up to a tour of the second floor? I’ve poked my head in most of the rooms, but I wouldn’t mind a partner for a more thorough investigation.”

      “Alright” I said, walking over to her. “Where is everyone?”

      “Kotone, Airi, Hikari, Sachiko, and Chiyoko are all exploring. Rei, Monami, and Izumi are in the Cafeteria. Haruko and Hana have boarded themselves up in the newly discovered Amphitheater, and Michi is in her room.” Some part of me noted that she had skipped a name, but I didn’t bother sorting through them to figure out which. We had been walking as she spoke, and quickly found ourselves at the door to the stairwell. I grabbed ahold of the handle and pulled. This time the door opened.

      The steps were steep and made of hard, painted stone so I kept a strong hold on the railing while we walked up. Masaru opened the door at the top of the stairs, and I found myself in hallways just like the ones of the floor below. Same colorful hallways, same flickering lights.

      “Near as I can tell there’s only three rooms that differentiate from the same style of classrooms that are all over the bottom floor.” Masaru said, leading the way down the hall. “That’s the Amphitheatre, the Library, and the Music Room. Hana and Haruko probably won’t react well to us barging into the Amphitheatre but it’s the closest, so let’s go ahead and get that out of the way.”

      I wondered how long I had been standing in the hallway for Masaru to already know where everything was as I followed her down the hallway. We took a left turn and walked a bit longer before coming across a pair of cream double doors. Masaru grabbed the left door’s handle and pushed in. It didn’t open. “Does this door have a lock?” She said, looking confused.

       “Here, let me try” I grabbed the handle and shoved it back and forth for a minute. The feeling of the resistance and the sound from the other side confirmed my guess. “It’s not locked, there’s a chair against the door.” I pulled the door as close to us as I could, which wasn’t very far, and then slammed it shut. I heard the chair clatter to the ground on the other side. “There, problem solved.”

       “Where’d you learn to do that?” Masaru asked, looking impressed.

      “I read a lot of spy novels” the worlds slipped through my mouth before I could admit that I didn’t know where I’d learned the skill. I didn’t know why that response to the question came so easily, either. I opened the door to find Hana glaring at me from midway up the stairs to the stage with a baseball bat over her shoulder.

      “How the fuck did you move the chair?” She demanded, her hands shaking slightly. Haruko was standing on the stage, watching us warily. At that moment it occurred to me that the sisters were clearly scared out of their minds. That’s why they’d locked themselves in here and blocked the door, I didn’t know how I hadn’t figured it out before.

      “Kaori reads spy novels. And where did you find a baseball bat?” Masaru said.

      “The gym. Haruko grabbed it on the second day we were here.” Hana said, still watching us warily. “What do you want?”

      “I just wanted to see the Amphitheatre.” I looked around. Same as the door the room was mostly in shades of cream. A stack of books was set on the stage next to Haruko, who was holding a sketchbook and a pencil. An adventure novel was lying open at her feet.

       “There, you’ve seen it” Haruko said. “Now get out.”

       “You can only hide in here for so long” Masaru said. I turned to see she was doodling something on her arm with a pen. “You’re not allowed to sleep outside of the dorms, and the only place that has food is the cafeteria.”

     “This is our territory during daytime hours” Hana said. “Go find your own!” She waved the baseball bat at us, but her hands were still shaking.

       “Alright, let’s go” Masaru said. She turned and left, a second later I followed. Only a few seconds after that the door was slammed shut and I could hear Hana setting the chair up again. We continued down the hall.

       “People are setting up their own territories now?” I asked. “We’re even more divided than I thought.”

      “So far those two are the only ones to try something like that, but who knows? I personally think Atsuko had the right idea by trying to bring us all together as a team but Kasumi literally beat that idea to death. Now everyone is paranoid.”

       “You don’t seem to be.”

       “I’m just trying to help everyone and praying it doesn’t get me killed. I’m not a natural leader like you or Atsuko.”

       I paused. “I’m not a natural leader.”

       “Yes, you are. Didn’t you notice how you took ahold of the debate during the trial? Even if it was Izumi who pinpointed our killer, you led the conversation and made sure it didn’t descend into chaos.”

       “That doesn’t count, we were desperate.”

       “It doesn’t negate the fact that you did it.” Masaru and I kept talking for the next few minutes, and even after the event I never really had any clue how she managed to rope someone like me into a conversation so easily.

       Eventually we reached another door that was different from the classroom doors. This one was a dark burgundy color. “Welcome to the library” Masaru said, pushing open the door. The room was about the size of the classrooms, with shelves full of countless books lining the walls and two reading tables set up in the middle of the room. Kotone and Airi were looking through the various books while Sachiko had climbed halfway up on of the shelves. I could feel my face heating up due to the fact that Sachiko really needed to invest in longer skirts.

       “Sachiko…er…what the hell” Masaru finally said, looking confused.

       “I’m looking for some sort of secret passage” Sachiko said, climbing up onto the next shelf. “There’s got to be some way out of this hellhole.”

      “Are you looking for a book that activates a secret door when you pull it?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. It wasn’t the sort of thing you’d expect from Sachiko.

       The bottle blonde’s face turned scarlet as she climbed another shelf, sending at least eight books crashing to the floor. Airi looked horrified and Sachiko didn’t answer the question. “Don’t you have other places to investigate, bitch?” She demanded. “The ditz and the werewolf said they were gonna go to the music room if you’re looking.”

     I guessed she was referring to Hikari and Chiyoko. “Alright, thanks.” I left the room, Masaru telling the others bye before following.

      “I guess she’s a bit weird deep down, same as the rest of us” Masaru said as we walked. “I just don’t think she likes to admit it.”

       “I wouldn’t know” I said. “Do you think the others will adopt the Yamamoto sisters’ ideas once the shock wears off?”

      “…I think there’s a good chance of it” Masaru said. “But it’s something I’d prefer not to think about.”

      “Ignoring a problem won’t make it go away.”

       Masaru giggled softly, but there was no humor in it. “Trust me, I know. A lot of the time it just makes the problem worse.”

      I knew whatever past problem she was talking about was none of my business, so I stayed silent until we arrived at an electric blue door. The room it led into looked like a recording studio. It was large, with electric blue walls and instruments of every shape and size neatly organized around the room. A door on the other side led into a room I could see through a glass wall, filled with recording equipment. I guess it really was a recording studio.

       Hikari was in the recording area with headphones on, and Chiyoko was in front of us with a drum set. She was making a horrible racket while a small chocolate lapdog ran around her in never ending circles. “No, no, no!” Masaru said, snatching the drumsticks away from Chiyoko. “You can’t play My Chemical Romance like that you ignorant fool!” It was the first time I’d seen Masaru angry. “You’re _mutilating_ To the End!” She walked over to another set of drums and sat down. “It goes like this.” When she played the results actually sounded something like a song, or as close to that as you can get with nothing but the beat.

       “Hey, cool! You play the drums?” Chiyoko said, looking impressed. Her dog yapped in agreement.

      “A bit. The piano and base are my main instruments. I was in a rock band up until about six months ago, when I just became too busy with the tattoo parlor to do it anymore. We never got anywhere, and I’m not surprised. We kinda sucked.” Masaru explained. “We wrote a grand total of one song over the course of two years, and it was a really crappy song.”

       “I wanna hear, I wanna hear!” Hikari shouted, shoving open the door and rushing into the area. “Play it, play it!”

       “No, sorry. I already told you it was a really crappy song.” Masaru stood up and tossed the drumsticks back to Chiyoko, who immediately tossed one away with the word fetch. Her dog scrambled after it. “I’m gonna head back downstairs, I need food.” Masaru said, turning to me. “But I’m guessing you want to stay up here.”

       Before I could respond the door opened behind me. Masaru and Hikari, who could both see behind me, froze in shock.

       “O-oh” a voice said behind me. I froze as well. “Hi, Kaori. Can I talk to you?”

       Her usual overdramatic tone was gone, but I could still recognize her voice. This was the girl Masaru hadn’t mentioned when she listed everyone’s locations, and I suddenly knew why she’d probably skipped her. I turned around, and found myself face to face with Blaze, the girl who I might’ve been willing to call a friend, who had tried to take my life only days before.


	8. The Magician's Secret

     Almost instantly I felt Chiyoko’s hand on my shoulder, and Blaze seemed to shrink under her gaze. “No, you can’t-”

      “Actually, yes she can” I said, interrupting before Chiyoko could go any farther. I knew she meant well, but this was an issue that I’d have to confront sooner or later. I’d prefer it to be in a place I could control it. “Would you all mind waiting outside? There’s no way she’ll try anything when she’d be so easily caught.”

       “But what if she just wants revenge?” Hikari asked, looking worried.

       “Then I’ll scream my lungs off. Besides, I’m not the one who figured out she was my attacker during the trial. If she really wanted revenge she’d go after Rei or Sachiko.” Blaze flinched and turned to stare at the ground.

       Hikari and Chiyoko didn’t look happy, but they followed Masaru out of the room. The door slamming behind them sounded like a judge’s gavel, cementing my decision. There was a small table in the corner of the room with two chairs, so I moved over to sit in one of them. I gestured for Blaze to take the other. She sat down across from me and shakily pulled something out of who knows where and set it on the table. It was a deck of cards, the edges were frayed and the pictures were yellow with age.

      I hadn’t forgiven her, so I didn’t bother to ask what the deck was for. I just watched her until she seemed to get the message. When she spoke, her voice was quiet. “It started off when card tricks, back when I was only four or five. I had this book full of simple tricks and I knew them all by heart, but this was the first one I learned.” She picked the deck up and flipped through the cards for a minute before picking four up and holding them in her hand like a fan. The rest she set back on the desk.

      The cards she was holding were the four kings: Diamonds, Hearts, Spades, and Clubs. “The King of Diamonds had just gotten a new castle, so he invited all the other Kings to come and see it.” She set the four cards one after the other on the top of the deck. “The King of Hearts went to the tallest tower in the castle” she pulled up the top card- I’d assume the King of Hearts- and put it into the middle of the deck. “The King of Spades went to the hunting grounds, the King of Clubs decided to explore the hallways, and the King of Diamonds went to read some new books he’d gotten.” As she named each king she pulled a card from the top of the deck and slid it into the middle with a practiced grace. “Later, the King of Diamonds called them all to dinner.” She pulled out a magician’s wand, a simple black rod with a white top. She tapped the deck twice, and then pulled the top four cards off the deck. It was the four kings, back where they’d started.

      I can’t say I surprised, this was far below what I knew she was capable of. “What’s the point of this trick?”

       “The trick is the magician’s secret.” Blaze said, gathering up the kings and the top four cards in the deck. “You don’t lie, but that doesn’t mean you have to tell everything you know.” She held the king cards out with one hand like she had at the beginning, but then with a deliberate slowness she carefully placed the other cards she’d pulled from the deck behind the leftmost card- the King of Hearts. With the four extra cards hidden, it looked like she was only holding up the Kings. Then she stacked them up on the deck just as she had the first time. But this time, when she pulled the top four off she showed them to me instead of hiding them away. They were the same random cards she’d hidden behind the King cards. “You see, I said there the King of Diamonds invited the other kings, but I never said they were his only guests.”

      She swept the cards up and put them back on top of the deck. Then the entire deck disappeared somewhere under her cape. “I suppose you could see this is my roundabout way of an apology. It’s the rule of the magician not to tell everything, but I need to try and fix this somehow. So I’ll tell you everything and anything you want to know about my trade, about me, anything! All my cards are on the table!”

       I stared at her, somewhat startled. She seemed almost desperate. “I can’t forgive you for what you’ve done” I said. “At least, not now. It’ll take time to build trust and forgiveness, a lot of time.”

       “But you’ll let me try?” She seemed wary to hope. I nodded. A soft smile began to form. “Thank you. Um…first things first. My real name is Momoke Ito, and you can call me that whenever you like. I won’t stop you, but I’m not gonna tell anyone else.”

        “Then I won’t call you by it around other people” I said. I stood up. Something about this whole conversation felt so surreal, seeing my would-by-killer practically begging at my feet was a bit disorienting. “Goodbye, Momoke.” I briskly walked out of the room.

      Masaru was sitting outside the door with Hikari snoring on her shoulder, but Chiyoko was anxiously pacing back and forth. The second I opened the door she rushed over to me and looked me over like a worried mother bear. “Are you okay? She didn’t hurt you, did she? I’ll kill her if she did!”

      The disturbing part was that we were in a situation that made murder a possible revenge option. “I’m fine, she just wanted to talk.”

     “About what?” Masaru asked.

      “She asked me to forgive her, I said it would take time.” I replied. Chiyoko seemed to relax and backed away, looking a bit sheepish.

      “Ah, I thought so. That’s nice. Do you guys want to head to the Cafeteria?” Masaru asked. “It’s nearly time for dinner, so I think everyone will be heading that way.”

      “Sounds good to me” Chiyoko said, carefully picking up Hikari and cradling her in her arms. The girl muttered in her sleep and squirmed around before seemingly finding a comfortable position and falling asleep again. “Let’s go!”

      It didn’t take us long to reach the first floor and then the cafeteria, where about half of our classmates were already eating. Someone had set a stack of plates and a giant pyramid of every type of sandwich on the center of the biggest table. Chiyoko set Hikari down in the chair next to the pyramid and then took the seat beside her. I grabbed a pimento cheese sandwich, set it on a plate, and sat down at a small table in the corner. I was about halfway down when Rei sat down next to me. We ate in a comfortable silence for a bit when I heard someone shout from the biggest table. We both shot up like a bullet a rushed over to see Hikari squirming in her seat and shouting in her sleep. “No, no, no, why…I don’t wanna die…NO NO NO!” She continued to scream and writhe in her seat until Masaru grabbed her by the shoulders and started to shake her back and forth.

       “Hikari! Hikari, wake up!” She shouted. Eventually the little blonde woke up, and promptly burst into tears and buried her face in Masaru’s chest. Everyone else was silent.

     It was no mystery what Hikari had been dreaming about.


	9. Loves Me Not

      “She loves me, she loves me not. She loves me, she loves me not” her voice was quiet and subdued and I almost didn’t hear her. I couldn’t begin to guess where she’d gotten a flower but she was busy mutilating it.

       It wasn’t my business why she was doing it, anyways. Three days since the execution and here I was, looking for snacks in the middle of the night. Somehow Chiyoko and Hikari had ended up staying in my room for the night and Chiyoko wouldn’t stop complaining about how hungry she was. I simply walked past her and began looking for chips.

       “K-kaori! When did you get here?” She clutched the flower to her chest and looked at me warily.

      “Just a second ago” I said, digging through the panty. I doubted she’d attack me, but I was on my guard in case she tried anything.

      “I bet you’re surprised to the Super High School Level Matchmaker trying a system this flawed, huh?” She said.

       I shrugged and pulled out a half empty family sized bag of chips. “It’s not really my business.”

      “It’s just…I don’t develop crushes of my own that often. I mostly just end up helping people with theirs.”

     “Just be careful, alright? This isn’t an ideal location for romance.”

     “Yeah, I know. But if we don’t have love, than what do we have left?”

     “That’s a fair point. Anyways, I need to get back to my room. Hikari and Chiyoko are waiting.”

     “Will you tell Chiyoko that she needs to be here by seven tomorrow, please?”

      “Yeah, sure” I turned and headed out of the kitchen.

      “Hey…Kaori?”

     “What?”

      “Do you think I’m petty?”

      “Pardon?”

     “I’ve always had my career mocked, you know. People like to call me a stupid romantic and the amount of people who have used my website as a way to find people they can walk all over is astounding. They say the emphasis I put on romance is petty, and maybe it is. But love? Love isn’t petty. Love is the greatest thing this world has to offer us. I just…wanted to help some people find it.”

      “This is quite a bit of dramatics over a crush.”

      “It just got me thinking, that’s all. It made me think how petty that is in a place like this, and just how worthless everything I’ve been doing seems. Two people died, and do you know what I did? I made things even more awkward by tripping Izumi and sending her stumbling onto Chiyoko!”

       I’m certain that incident was fresh in everyone’s memory. “You tried to bring something to life instead of just staring at what was already gone. That’s more than the rest of us can claim.”

       “But I could have prevented it! I claim to be an emotions expert, and I knew that something about Kasumi was off from the start. But if I’d just investigated a bit farther, if I just would’ve taken the time to realize just how deeply wounded she really was-”

      “You would’ve done what, exactly? Kasumi was injured, we could all see that. And maybe in a stable environment we could’ve helped to fix it. But in a place like this, where she was given free reign to unleash all that hurt and anger onto a single target…there’s no way we could’ve stopped it.”

     Kotone looked startled. “Y-yeah, I guess you’re right. I just wish I could’ve done something.”

      “We’re human, we can only do so much.” I looked at the flower in her hands and noticed it only had one petal left. “By the way, what’s the flower’s verdict?”

       She smiled softly and pulled the final petal loose, letting it flutter to the ground. “Loves me not. I guess I’ll just have to win her over.”

      “Good luck with that” I said, this time leaving the kitchen for good.

      A few minutes later I was back in my dorm room, where I found Chiyoko and Hikari playing Uno on the ground. “There you are! What took so long?” Chiyoko asked, standing up.

      “Someone moved the chips. It took a bit for me to find them.” I sat down on the bed and opened the bag.

      All three of us were in Cafeteria at seven sharp the next morning, where Rei and Kotone were already eating at different tables. “Chiyoko, over here!” Kotone called, waving to the girl.

       “I’ll see you two later, okay?” Chiyoko said before walking over to join Kotone. Rei was sitting at the table next to them, so Hikari and I joined her. I didn’t spend as much time with Rei as I did Hikari and Chiyoko, but I felt that I could call her a friend. It was odd, realizing how quickly friendships were made in a place like this.

      “Good morning” Rei said. “How are you?” She took a bite of her cereal.

      “Decent, I suppose. Where did you get the cereal?”

      “The back cabinet. The milk is in the fridge.” Hikari and I went and got breakfast and continued to sit with Rei while we ate. Hikari babbled on while Rei and I ate in silence and the other girls slowly entered the room.

       “Good morning!” Momoke said as she walked into the room, looking over the assembled group. Momoke was an interesting combination of cheerful, charming exterior and sketchy hidden depths. Despite the fact she’d been hanging around me and answering any questions I had for three days I didn’t really know what to think of her. “Kotone stop staring at Kaori’s table, you’re being weird.” Not to mention she’d recently become rather overprotective of me.

       I turned and looked at Kotone and found her scribbling in her notebook with a furious look in her eye. This couldn’t end well. Momoke sat down in the seat between me and Rei and pulled a granola bar out of nowhere, which she began eating. She and Hikari continued to talk while we ate, and Rei stopped talking entirely.

       Eventually I finished my meal and quickly dropped the bowl off in the sink before returning to the table. “I’m going to go read in the library if any of you care to join me” I said, pausing by the table where my group was still sitting.

       “I’ll come with you” Rei said. She’d already finished her meal and put her dishes away, but had continued to sit at our table. She stood and together we left the Cafeteria.

      We didn’t talk on our way up and neither of us paid much attention to the Auditorium, where the Yamamoto sisters still hid on a daily basis. Luckily their idea of diving up into groups and territories hadn’t spread.

       Rei picked a book from the historical fiction and sat down to read it, but I chose to look around the Library a bit more. I’d been her a couple times, and I’d noticed something a bit odd about one of the bookshelves. I hadn’t wanted to act on my suspicions until I had backup in case Monokuma tried to stop me. One of the bookshelves stood a bit further out than the others, and there was a blank space between that shelf and the one next to it. I grabbed the edge that wasn’t beside open space and pulled. With a loud creak, it opened to reveal a small hidden room, lit by a single light bulb.

       “I thought so” I muttered to myself, walking in.

        “Kaori? What on Earth is this?” Rei rushed in after me and looked around in confusion.

      “I have no clue. Quick, look through as many of the books as you can before Monokuma notices. Hide anything that looks like it could help us.” There were only a few books sitting on the shelves so it wasn’t a hard task. I grabbed the one nearest me, which looked like a picture album. “What the heck?” I stared down at it in confusion, quickly flipping through the pages. It was full of pictures of our class. Kasumi and Blaze were playing poker, Hana and Haruka were discussing something with Kotone, Atsuko and Monami were laughing and smiling for the camera. I flipped through more and more of the pictures, my confusion growing.

       Suddenly there was a sickening crack, and the book clattered to the floor as hot blood began to flow down my neck. I fell to the ground, and the last thing I heard before I blacked out was Rei’s voice, filled with panic.

      “KAORI!”  


End file.
